I found some better scanning software, so I walked around the office complex here, hunting for WiFi access points. Here are the rather disturbing results:

Offices in this complex: ~30Total Access Points: 19AP's not using encryption: 8AP's on the default channel 6: 9AP's on a non-standard channel*: 5AP's using a default SSID: 5AP's using the SSID "linksys": 3Most AP's detectable from one location: 12Fewest AP's detectable from one location: 2

*Non-standard channel = Anything other than 1, 6 and 11, the only 3 channels that do not suffer frequency overlap.

Why surprised? They sell that stuff with "ready to run, just plug it in" promises on the box. Of course the reason it works without any tuning or configuration is that it is set to default with no security or anything that might get in the way.

And of course eventually, like with cell phones, someone will realize that they've been left wide open to snooping and hacking, and will demand that Congress make it illegal to use any unauthorized device on a wireless network. Unenforceable, but I predict it will happen.